THIS IS IMMEDIATE FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION...
Los Angeles (CNN) -- In an expanding investigation
into teacher misconduct, Los Angeles school officials are going back 40 years
in their internal review of teacher discipline cases in an effort to determine
whether any of the instructors should also be referred for possible license
revocation, a school spokesman said Friday.
Los Angeles School Superintendent John Deasy has asked the
principals at more than 1,000 schools to search the files of the past 40 years
for "any cases of possible employee misconduct," spokesman Tom
Waldman told CNN.
The 40-year period is a significant expansion from the past
four years of misconduct cases that the system has already reviewed.
So far, Los Angeles school officials have referred the
discipline cases of 604 teachers from the past four years to state authorities who
have powers to revoke a teacher's credentials, officials said.
Of those 604 cases (THIS NUMBER IS FROM HR AT LAUSD, THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF TEACHERS IN LAUSD "Rubber Rooms" MAY BE TWICE THAT FIGURE. ) in which teachers were fired or facing
discipline, 60 teachers were accused of sexual misconduct with pupils on or off
campus or with minors who weren't students, school officials said.
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing will
investigate 366 of the 604 teacher cases to determine if licenses should be
revoked, which is a six-month process, spokeswoman Anne Padilla said. Most of
the cases focused on allegations of teacher misconduct that involved student
safety.
Padilla said Friday that 122 of the 604 cases were referred
back to the school district for further information because the state agency
didn't have the authority to investigate.
She also told CNN that 103 of the 604 cases were duplicates
and were already being investigated by the agency's committee on credentials.
"For the vast majority, no final action has been taken. They are still in
process," Padilla said about the 103 cases.
The referral of the cases to state licensing investigators
comes as the nation's second largest school system deals with a crisis of
teacher misconduct. The district has been reeling from a scandal at Miramonte
Elementary School, where two teachers have been charged with lewd acts on
pupils, including one teacher accused of putting children in adult-like bondage
situations and placing semen-filled spoons at their mouths.
The state license of that teacher, Mark Berndt -- who has
pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of lewd acts on pupils -- has been suspended as
the state agency monitors his criminal case, and a license revocation occurs
upon a conviction, Padilla said. If an appeal to a conviction is made, the suspension of
teaching credentials continues, Padilla said.
This week, the California Senate approved a bill that would
empower school boards to fire teachers for misconduct and expedite the firing
process of instructors accused of offenses involving sex, violence or drugs,
said Democratic state Sen. Alex Padilla, who authored the legislation.
The bill now goes to the State Assembly for a vote.
"Because a school board is ultimately responsible for
ensuring a safe learning environment, the school board should be empowered to
dismiss employees they determine to be a serious threat to the health and
safety of students," Sen. Padilla said in a statement.
The lurid allegations at Miramonte prompted the Los Angeles
system to do an internal review of its handling of past teacher misconduct
cases, and the district determined that 604 cases needed to be referred to
state licensing authorities for review, though "a substantial number"
of other misconduct cases had already been reported to the state, school
officials said.
One parent, Alvaro Salgero, told CNN that he was concerned
about child abuse in the school system.
"It tended to be a safe place, but from what I hear, it seems that's not
happening in some places," Salgero said. "There isn't sufficient
security for children.
"We're able to realize that there wasn't much of an
investigation with teachers and they didn't investigate them before giving them
a job, and those who suffer are the children, the pupils," Salgero said.
The 604 cases include teachers who were disciplined or were about to face
discipline since July 2008, according to Ira Berman, Los Angeles Unified School
District director of employee relations, and Vivian Ekchian, the district's
chief human resources officer.
The cases also include teachers who were fired by the school
board or who left the district after termination proceedings were initiated or
while an allegation of misconduct was pending, Berman and Ekchian said.
The system doesn't know whether any of the teachers who were
fired or who left the district are still in the classroom in other school
districts.
The 604 figure also includes teachers who were suspended for
11 days or more for a variety of reasons not involving sexual misconduct with
students, the two officials said.
"The safety of our students is our No. 1 priority,"
Ekchian said in explaining why the system referred the 604 cases to the state.
The system's internal investigation arose after parental outrage after charges
were filed against former Miramonte teacher Berndt, who resigned from the
system last year but was not referred to the state for possible license
revocation, district spokesman Waldman said.
Berndt, 61, pleaded not guilty in February to allegations he
bound young students, then photographed them with semen-filled spoons held at
their mouths and three-inch cockroaches crawling across their faces, among
other graphic depictions.
"We had not informed Sacramento to revoke Mr. Berndt's
credentials," Waldman said.
Berndt is being held on $23 million bond and faces 23 counts
of lewd acts on a child. The 23 victims were between 7 and 10 years old, and
all but two of them were girls, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's
Office said.
Authorities have said they have discovered roughly 600 images allegedly taken
by Berndt in his classroom. Los Angeles Unified School District
Superintendent Deasy has said Berndt was removed from his teaching job in
January 2011 after school officials learned of the police investigation. A
teacher for 30 years, Berndt initially challenged the school district's
decision to dismiss him. But he eventually dropped his appeal and resigned last
spring.
His arrest in January led to broader fallout over the
adequacy of safeguards for the school's students and the prospect of more
victims.
Days after Berndt was taken into custody, another Miramonte Elementary teacher
-- Martin Springer, 49 -- was arrested and charged with three felony counts of
lewd acts with a girl younger than 14. He has pleaded not guilty.
The LAUSD board subsequently shut Miramonte for two days,
during which the board reconstituted the entire staff in the 1,400-student
school. Miramonte is in unincorporated Los Angeles County within the
Florence-Firestone area, about six miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
"Because a school board is ultimately responsible for
ensuring a safe learning environment, the school board should be empowered to
dismiss employees they determine to be a serious threat to the health and
safety of students," Sen. Padilla said in a statement.
READ THIS: For every seven teachers brought up on charges by
the average school district, one has anything directly to do with students. However, of the former seven
teachers, 90% are at or near the top of their pay scale. Of that
seven less than 15% are prosectuted by police. STILL, 100% WILL BE EFFECTIVELY
FIRED OR DRIVEN OFF.
While time is showing it is actually easy to fire a teacher w/o
a cause that would stand up in crimminal or civil court, the same district
can't keep one single high school student safe from the violence, gang
activities or the drug use on its own campuses. Not a single student can be
kept safe until they graduate. IS THIS ABOUT PAYROLL SAVINGS OR REAL STUDENT
SAFETY?
The lurid allegations at Miramonte prompted the Los Angeles
system to do an internal review of its handling of past teacher misconduct
cases, and the district determined that 604 cases needed to be referred to
state licensing authorities for review, though "a substantial number"
of other misconduct cases had already been reported to the state, school
officials said.
One parent, Alvaro Salgero, told CNN that he was concerned about child abuse in
the school system. "It tended to be a safe place, but from what I
hear, it seems that's not happening in some places," Salgero said.
"There isn't sufficient security for children
"We're able to realize that there wasn't much of an investigation with
teachers and they didn't investigate them before giving them a job, and those
who suffer are the children, the pupils," Salgero said.
The 604 cases include teachers who were disciplined or were about to face
discipline since July 2008, according to Ira Berman, Los Angeles Unified School
District director of employee relations, and Vivian Ekchian, the district's
chief human resources officer
The cases also include teachers who were fired by the school board or who left
the district after termination proceedings were initiated or while an
allegation of misconduct was pending, Berman and Ekchian said.
The system doesn't know whether any of the teachers who were
fired or who left the district are still in the classroom in other school
districts.
The 604 figure also includes teachers who were suspended for
11 days or more for a variety of reasons not involving sexual misconduct with
students, the two officials said.
"The safety of our students is our No. 1 priority,"
Ekchian said in explaining why the system referred the 604 cases to the state.
The system's internal investigation arose after parental
outrage after charges were filed against former Miramonte teacher Berndt, who
resigned from the system last year but was not referred to the state for
possible license revocation, district spokesman Waldman said.
Berndt, 61, pleaded not guilty in February to allegations he
bound young students, then photographed them with semen-filled spoons held at
their mouths and three-inch cockroaches crawling across their faces, among
other graphic depictions.
"We
had not informed Sacramento to revoke Mr. Berndt's credentials," Waldman said.
Berndt is being held on $23 million bond and faces 23 counts
of lewd acts on a child. The 23 victims were between 7 and 10 years old, and
all but two of them were girls, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's
Office said.
Authorities have said they have discovered roughly 600 images
allegedly taken by Berndt in his classroom.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Deasy has
said Berndt was removed from his teaching job in January 2011 after school
officials learned of the police investigation.
A teacher for 30 years, Berndt initially challenged the
school district's decision to dismiss him. But he eventually dropped his appeal
and resigned last spring.
His arrest in January led to broader fallout over the
adequacy of safeguards for the school's students and the prospect of more
victims.
Days after Berndt was taken into custody, another Miramonte
Elementary teacher -- Martin Springer, 49 -- was arrested and charged with
three felony counts of lewd acts with a girl younger than 14. He has pleaded
not guilty.
The LAUSD board subsequently shut Miramonte for two days, during which the
board reconstituted the entire staff in the 1,400-student school. Miramonte is
in unincorporated Los Angeles County within the Florence-Firestone area, about
six miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:
